It’s not everyday you GET to be someone who can positively impact the lives of others. Us? Yes, we GET TO DO THIS EVERYDAY!
We Get to hug those sullen-faced children
We Get to VISIT classes everyday/every week
We Get to celebrate WINS, Good News Referrals, and Caught You Doing Something Right
We Get to help students solve problems
We Get to see teachers MOTIVATE kiddos AND motivate teachers ourselves!
We Get to watch children grow, literally in real-time
We Get to collaborate, problem solve and communicate
We Get to high five and knuckle pound all day
We Get to smile and laugh with kids that may not do that at home
We Get to leave school knowing that tomorrow will be another chance to improve the life of SOMEONE
Thank you for everything you DO for our students!! I hope that you have time to enjoy some time off with family and friends. I am going to say it again, I am so lucky to work with such a dedicated group of teachers that will take NO EXCUSES to ensure that our students are successful!! Happy Holidays and have a Happy New Year!!
There are so many things we SHOULD do. I know it, you know it...;) Sometimes, it's easier said than done! Take a look at anEASY 10 Things Teachers can Say More Oftenand how easy it can be done!
Did you know that engagement starts with respect? Either way you look at it, EVERYONE is more engaged when they respect the person giving them information. Take a look atTHIS ARTICLE on ways to earn teens respect and keep them engaged!
Want to know how to TALK LESS in your classroom with THESE easy strategies?? Who doesn't want that to happen? Check outTHIS ARTICLE for easy ways to get kids talking more and you talking less!
Watch this on how EVERY kid is ONE caring adult away from being a success story!!
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There: Thank you Garrett, Fern and Monica for making a difference with our students.
Play: Thank you for getting in the spirit and EVERYONE wearing a holiday sweater Thursday.
Choose your attitude:Be kind. Be kind. Be kind. Be kind.
Make Their Day: Enjoy your time off and try not to work :) See you next year.
As many of you know, I lost my mom when I was 11 years old to cancer. During my birthday I always tend to miss her the most! She was only 41 when she died and since my 41st birthday I feel so lucky to be alive and to be with my family. Instead of getting gifts from my family, my sisters and I go to the city and do random acts of kindness. This year we will do 46 acts of kindness. My mom was an immigrant and taught all four of us the art of giving back to our community. She was a teacher and because we lived in a community of immigrants many of the women would come to her for guidance. Our house was always that house, there was always someone over. I learned so much from my mom in the few years I had with her. The above picture of my mom I keep on my desk by my laptop. It is something I look at multiple times a day! It drives me to be a better mom, sister, friend, wife, and educator. I am constantly thinking how can I grow. In the last 7 years our school has been working hard to build our Agri-Science school. Now our program has been recognized by receiving a Golden Bell, gold ribbon and now 3 blue marks on the dashboard!! We did this as a TEAM!! No great accomplishment can happen alone. It takes a team, it takes a family. There is a lot that can be said with the strength of numbers.
As I walked through classrooms this past month it was very nice to see whole group instruction taking place and then the teacher taking a group and providing intervention to those students who needed it. During our academic conferences we have targeted our students who need to make growth. This targeted instruction has to take place in ALL K-8 classes during ELA and Math. Please make sure your lesson plans reflect what you will be doing for that core group. These students are not performing at grade level and they still need to be exposed to grade level text AND be taught at the level they are currently at. What are you doing as the classroom teacher to make sure you are providing Tier 2 support at their independent level? It is the only way the student will make growth. If the teacher continues to only provide instruction at the grade level that gap will continue to get wider.
Quality Core Instruction
It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of providing students with strong, effective core instruction at any grade level. Without sufficient initial instruction, the percentage of students in need of intervention support will likely be larger than the capacity of the schools to respond adequately. It has become increasingly clear to us in our work with schools that building intervention programs without maximizing the effectiveness of core instruction results in overtaxed intervention providers and severely diluted intervention programs that have little hope of providing the intensity of instruction required to adequately support struggling students.
Core Components of RtI for Literacy Instruction
Instead of only having an intervention-focused approach to meeting students’ needs, effective programming focuses on prevention, begins with the intensification of core instruction. Core instructional planning must address both students’ academic needs as well as their social-emotional needs in order to provide true access to core instruction. High quality academic instruction will not be enough if students are so disengaged that they fail to receive the instruction due to excessive absenteeism and/or behavior problems. Thus, effective instruction will include strategies that keep students engaged, such as beginning lessons by priming background knowledge; providing students with a choice of assignments, texts, and topics; providing opportunities for peer collaboration; and supporting students in setting reasonable yet ambitious goals and providing progress-monitoring feedback to them as they strive to achieve those goals.
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There: Thank you Mindi for hosting our social this Friday. Thank you Sunshine committee for providing the food.
Play: Please make sure you fill out at least one good news referral a week.
Choose your attitude:Be kind. Be kind. Be kind. Be kind.
If
you ever go home tired and wonder why am I working so hard? Does it even make a
difference? LET ME TELL YOU- IT DOES. Check out the dashboard link below! We
are blue in three categories. No, this did not happen overnight. This happened
with years of looking at data, making changes with our instruction, building
relationships, working as a team, NO EXCUSES to the core!! Our kids are making
growth because of your dedication to them and our school!! We will be
celebrating our success and growth at our staff social on December 15th!!
We, as educators, can be that one person in a child’s life that can make a difference. Watch the video below: Brings tears to my eyes every time!!
Why Teaching Kindness in Schools Is Essential to Reduce BullyingOCTOBER 17, 2014
Phrases like "random acts of kindness" and "pay it forward" have become popular terms in modern society. It seems that we just can't get enough of those addictive, feel-good emotions -- and with good reason. Scientific studies prove that kindness has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. And children need a healthy dose of the warm-and-fuzzies to thrive as healthy, happy, well-rounded individuals.
Patty O'Grady, PhD, an expert in neuroscience, emotional learning, and positive psychology, specializes in education. She reports: Kindness changes the brain by the experience of kindness. Children and adolescents do not learn kindness by only thinking about it and talking about it. Kindness is best learned by feeling it so that they can reproduce it. A great number of benefits have been reported to support teaching kindness in schools, best summed up by the following.
Happy, Caring Children
The good feelings that we experience when being kind are produced by endorphins. They activate areas of the brain that are associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust. These feelings of joyfulness are proven to be contagious and encourage more kind behavior (also known asaltruism) by the giver and recipient.
Increased Peer Acceptance
Research on the subject has determined that kindness increases our ability to form meaningful connections with others. Kind, happy children enjoy greater peer acceptance because they are well liked. Better-than-average mental health is reported in classrooms that practice more inclusive behavior due to an even distribution of popularity.
Greater Sense of Belonging and Improved Self-Esteem
Studies show that people experience a "helper's high" when they do a good deed. This rush of endorphins creates a lasting sense of pride, wellbeing, and an enriched sense of belonging. It's reported that even small acts of kindness heighten our sense of wellbeing, increase energy, and give a wonderful feeling of optimism and self worth.
Improved Health and Less Stress
Being kind can trigger a release of the hormone oxytocin, which has a number of physical and mental health benefits. Oxytocin can significantly increase a person's level of happiness and reduce stress levels. It also protects the heart by lowering blood pressure and reducing free radicals and inflammation, which incidentally speed up the aging process.
Increased Feelings of Gratitude
When children are part of projects that help others less fortunate than themselves, it provides them with a real sense of perspective. Helping someone else makes them appreciate the good things in their own lives.
Better Concentration and Improved Results
Kindness is a key ingredient that helps children feel good about themselves as it increases serotonin levels. This important chemical affects learning, memory, mood, sleep, health, and digestion. Having a positive outlook enables greater attention spans and more creative thinking to produce better results at school.
Reduced Depression Dr. Wayne Dyer, an internationally-renowned author and speaker, says that an act of kindness triggers an increase in serotonin, a natural chemical responsible for improving mood. This boost in happiness occurs not only in both the giver and receiver of kindness, but also in anyone who witnesses it.This makes kindness a powerful, natural antidepressant. (PDF, 14KB)
Less Bullying
Shanetia Clark and Barbara Marinak are Penn State Harrisburg faculty researchers. They say, "Unlike previous generations, today's adolescents are victimizing each other at alarming rates." They argue that adolescent bullying and violence can be confronted with in-school programs that integrate "kindness -- the antithesis of victimization."
Many traditional anti-bullying programs focus on the negative actions that cause anxiety in children. When kindness and compassion are taught instead, it fosters the positive behavior that's expected. Promoting its psychological opposite is key in reducing bullying to create warm and inclusive school environments.
Maurice Elias, Professor at Rutgers University Psychology Department, is also an advocate for kindness. He says:
As a citizen, grandparent, father, and professional, it is clear to me that the mission of schools must include teaching kindness. Without it, communities, families, schools, and classrooms become places of incivility where lasting learning is unlikely to take place . . . [W]e need to be prepared to teach kindness, because it can be delayed due to maltreatment early in life. It can be smothered under the weight of poverty, and it can be derailed by victimization later in life . . . Kindness can be taught, and it is a defining aspect of civilized human life. It belongs in every home, school, neighborhood, and society. It's become clear that education must encompass more than just academics, and that matters of the heart must be taken seriously and nurtured as a matter of priority. How do you teach kindness?
SPIRIT WEEK Dec. 18-21
Monday: Find your hidden dragon on campus
Tuesday: Tone it up! Work out clothes
Wednesday: Wake up like this! Wear Pj’s
Thursday: Throwback Thursday: Dress like your favorite era
Staff Social will be on Friday, Dec. 15th at Mindi’s home at 5:00. We hope to see you there :)
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There: Thank you Katie and Fern for working hard with a student in your class and not giving up!! Thank you Jamie for going above and beyond to make a student's day in your class.
Play: HAVE fun and try something new- MAP skills :)
Choose your attitude:Be kind.
Make Their Day: Thank you 3rd grade team for going over after school procedures so that dismissal is easier at the end of the day.
The HourofCode is "a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator." Coding is the process of writing a program to make the computer do something. Everything that is done on a computer, like websites, games, applications, word processing, videos, and photos, has been coded to do its specific feature. The process of coding may seem daunting, but learning the basics can be quite easy.
Every year we participate in HourofCode during Computer Science Week - December 4-10. This short video explains a variety of ways to get your students involved in HourofCode.
Our students in 2nd-5th grade will use the
performance task following Unit 5 from Benchmark. You will receive more
details on this but the timing will be in early March.
We would like to use a writing assessment tied to Springboard
and have an assessment committee meeting scheduled for 12/13 to discuss and
finalize at the district office. If you are a 6th-8th
grade teacher I recommend that you attend this meeting to give input. If you
are using Springboard you should be at the beginning of Unit 2 at this
time. Unit 3 is tied to Argumentative writing but do not skip to unit 3
just to get to that genre.
This is worth a second time to post: I STILL see objectives that are written but they are truly just activities.
Goals: The broad statement about what you are covering (standard). It's long term....
Objective: The expected achievement that is well-defined, specific, measurable, and comes from the goal (standard)
Activity: Efforts or "things" done to achieve the objective (take notes, outline, complete graphic organizer)
Lunch with the Principal is on Monday, Dec. 4. Please send one student to have lunch with me.
Our student of the month will be presented at the board meeting on
Dec. 7 at 6:00pm. Come show your support for Emma Hnatko :)
Staff Social will be on Friday, Dec. 15th at Mindi’s home at 5:00.
We hope to see you there :)
**READ: On Wednesday, December 13th the EL cohort team (6th-8th grade) will be on our campus. They will be using the staff room at various times of the day. From 7:50-9:50 to create the lesson, in a classroom from 9:55-10:30, and then they would debrief back in the staff room- minus time for a lunch break- until about 2:00. Thank you for being flexible so we can host!
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There: Make sure you take part in our hour of code next week.
Play: Mr. Kimble thanks for organizing a fun game of frisbee with the teachers. Nice job Brandon and Kristin #winning!!
Choose your attitude:Be kind.
Make Their Day: Thank you Sarah, Patty, Christina and Carole for staying late last night for Literacy Night. The parents REALLY appreciated your guidance on how to help their child with reading and writing!!! ROCK STARS!!!
